Everyday Affairs

After

a

long

day

working

at

the

café

I

take

the

A

train

all

the

way

uptown

to

the

bodega’s

the

churro’s

the

older

pappas

playing

dominoes

in

the

vestibules

they’re

sitting

on

those

old

aluminum

patio

chairs

with

the

brightly

colored

webbing

they’re

dealing

and

bluffing

and

the

street

venders

are

hustling

and

posing

doing

their

kind

of

vogueing

playing

Salina

singing

and

cutting

mangos

into

roses

and

they

hand

them

off

on

sticks

and

they

smile

and

they

dance

a

little

for

awhile

and

they

kiss

the

babies

when

they

talk

to

the

babies’

mamas

I

am

not

sure

how

or

why

but

these

guys

they

have

good

style

that

street

thing

that

swing

that

swagger

with

a

touch

of

danger

and

when

I

pay

for

my

fruit

flower

my

vendor

my

sweet

treat

homie

takes

the

money

from

my

hand

from

my

fingers

but

we

stay

that

way

for

minute

we

linger

gingerly

on

the

same

planet

sharing

the

same

world

for

a

minute

and

in

that

moment

his

eyes

his

scent

his

grace

his

manner

his

manners

send

little

daggers

straight

into

my

heart